The Following Day
by ShineyStar
Summary: Based on the day after the battle at Hogwarts. CONTAINS SPOILERS.


_**A/N: If you have not seen the latest Harry Potter movie, or even read the latest book, then I advise you don't read this because of course, it contains spoilers. **_

**The Following Day**

Hogwarts was in ruins. Never before had it suffered the way it had done the previous night. Entire walls were missing, the corridors were littered with splintered glass, crumbled stone and various pieces of dented silver from where suits of armour had been demolished by flying curses.

Hermione felt her throat constrict as she walked silently through the endless corridors of her beloved school. She wasn't going anywhere particular, but that didn't stop her from walking. Her eyes were swollen and sore from a sleepless night and hours of crying; tears shed for the lives lost the night before, especially the lives of her dear friends: Tonks, Lupin and Fred.

Never in a million years had she expected anything like this to happen. Hermione knew that she was a smart girl, but there was a little part of her that was naïve, and had believed that Lord Voldemort's defeat would come with so much less heartbreak and damage. She had believed that she and the others would spend the day following the Dark Lord's deserved death with laughter and happiness, not the sad, empty feeling she currently had settled at the bottom of her stomach.

Her heavy feet took her further and further into the maze of collapsed walls, her heart aching a little more each time she came across a battle scene, the empty portraits on the walls emphasising the damage done.

Rounding a corner, she stopped dead.

There sitting in the middle of the floor, lone and cold, was a basilisk fang, yellowed with time. Picking it up, Hermione felt the smallest of smiles cross her lips as she remembered the one moment of happiness she'd felt last night, and who had given her that one moment.

Ron.

She could still feel his arms around her, his lips against hers and she clutched the fang tighter against her. If she had any stable thought in her mind at that precise moment in time, Hermione would have been repulsed at the idea of holding a tooth of the giant snake which had been rotting for five years underneath the castle – but she didn't care.

It had been her first kiss. She knew that Harry and Ron had suspected otherwise when Krum was in the picture, but she hadn't let anything happen between them. Sure, he was interested in her, and Hermione wasn't going to deny the fact that she liked the attention, but she knew it was wrong. And even though she was fourteen then, she knew that there was something in her that would have felt guilty for allowing anything to happen with Krum.

With the fang held tightly in her grip, Hermione carried on with her journey, her dull footsteps echoing along the deserted corridors. The castle was empty. All students had left on the Hogwart's Express early that morning – save for those who had refused to be sent home – returning to their families as their time at Hogwarts had been suspended due to the amount of damage sustained to the ancient castle; damage that not even magic would be able to fix. Hermione couldn't bare the thought of leaving her school the way it was and she had been one of the few who had chosen to stay, others including Harry, of course, Luna and Neville. She didn't understand why Luna hadn't returned to her father given what had happened to them both, and how it had been months since they had last seen each other ever since she had been taken, but then again, it was Luna, and not even Hermione's brains could figure that girl out.

Ron had left with his family, that morning, to return to the Burrow to make funeral arrangements for Fred. Hermione hadn't risen from her bed in time to see him, and a part of her was angry at herself for leaving it so late, and angry at Ron for not having tried to get to her to say goodbye. She'd thought that after everything that had happened the night before and in the last few months, in fact, she at least deserved a goodbye. Yet when she emerged from her dorm that morning, he was gone, as were Ginny, George and the remaining Weasley members.

She wasn't sure how long it had been since she started her walk, but Hermione blinked in surprise as the portrait of the Fat Lady appeared in front of her and swung open without even asking for the password. She supposed the password didn't really matter now that the castle was almost entirely empty.

The common room was empty, of course, and Hermione sighed in disappointment, having hoped that Harry would have returned from the headmaster's office, from where he was talking with Professor McGonagall. A yawn escaped her lips and it suddenly dawned on her just how tired she was. She hadn't slept in over forty eight hours and her eyes were struggling to stay open, and deciding that perhaps now she would be able to sleep, Hermione climbed the winding stone staircase leading to her dorm. However, as she reached the fork in the stairway, with the right leading off towards the boy's dormitory, she paused, feeling the strongest urge to go to the boy's dorm instead of her own. Normally, she'd avoid that place at the best of times – just think of the mess! – but as seeing as nobody was around to catch her, Hermione went right, pushing the heavy door open, only to stop dead in the doorway.

There sitting on his bed, with his head cast down towards his hands as his fingers fiddled with a stray Gryffindor scarf, was the very boy who had been plaguing her thoughts all day long.

His red hair was scruffy and his face was blotchy from tear stains and dried blood yet he had never looked more perfect than he did at that very moment, not even when he had returned to her and Harry in the Forest of Dean. Hermione felt her chest tighten as she let out a strangled gasp of surprise, and this tiny noise was enough to bring Ron from his thoughts, his weak gaze springing to the doorway. His mouth dropped at the sight of her and he slowly rose from his bed, the forgotten scarf dropping to the stone floor.

Moments of still silence passed before Hermione broke it, her voice shaky.

"What are you doing here?"

Ron blinked dazedly, a lips turning up ever so slightly at the corners. "Me? You're the one in the boy's dorm."

Hermione shook her head, tears sprinkling her pale cheeks. "Why aren't you at the Burrow?"

Dropping his gaze, Ron shrugged. "Didn't wanna go," he replied softly, before looking back up, his eyes locking with hers. "I couldn't go…not without you."

Tears flowed freely without hesitation as Hermione bounded forward, her arms locking around his neck as she buried her face into his neck. Ron's own tears fell as he wound his arms around Hermione's sobbing body, clutching her tightly. They remained like that for several minutes before Hermione finally pulled away, her breath gasping as she struggled to form words through her sobs.

"I t-thought you'd gone h-home. You weren't here when I got u-up," she hiccupped and Ron nodded his head, pinning her hands to his chest.

"I went to the station to see them off," he explained. "I told mum I'd join them in a few days, that I wasn't ready to leave just yet, but when I came back, I couldn't find you anywhere so I assumed you'd gone home with everyone else."

"N-no. I went for a w-walk around the castle," Hermione whispered, inhaling shakily. "I would never leave without you, Ron."

"Good because, Hermione," Ron said, cupping her tear-soaked cheeks, "I need you with me. I'm fed up of beating around the bush. I want to be with you and I…I think you want to be with me, too. We should just stop fighting it. Last night made me realise how stupid we've been, to ignore _this _between us. "

"I do want to be with you," Hermione replied, her head bouncing furiously. "I don't want to fight it anymore either, and if last night taught me anything, it was that it's now or never." A smile crept onto her lips. "Last night, you called me your girlfriend, after you chased Goyle." Her smile widened as Ron's ears turned pink and he smile sheepishly. "I liked it," Hermione reassured. "A lot."

A look of relief spread across Ron's face and he let out a huge breath, knowing that he didn't need to say anything more. Slowly lowering his face to hers, he watched her carefully, and it wasn't until her eyelids had fluttered closed that he softly pressed his lips against hers. Warmth spread through him, and it was every bit of amazing as he remembered it feeling. Hermione returned the kiss, her hands rising to grip his elbows as she increased the pressure of her lips. Steadily, the kiss grew, and it wasn't long before Ron's arms were gripping her waist and Hermione's fingers were tangled in his hair.

Her chest was tight with the desperate need to draw more oxygen into her body, but she ignored it, pressing closer against Ron who gripped her tighter – and it was only when the sound of the dorm door opening fell upon their deaf ears that they pulled away, gasping, to turn and face their best friend standing there, wearing an expression of surprise mixed with teasing disgust. Hermione's cheeks flushed pink and Ron cleared his throat guiltily, dropping his hand awkwardly from where they had somehow managed to creep beneath Hermione's denim jacket.

"I suppose this is something I'll have to get used to," Harry remarked wryly, grinning lopsidedly as his two best friends nodded their agreement.

"At least I'm not kissing your _sister_," Ron retaliated snarkily, raising his eyebrows at Harry, informing him that he had not been ignorant of the rather passionate embrace between Harry and Ginny earlier that morning, on the platform in Hogsmeade.

Harry faltered before grinning again, "Touché."

The three of them burst out laughing, and for what seemed like the first time in a long while, they felt at ease, peaceful. They knew that the horrors of the night before would fade with time and for the first time ever, they looked forward to the days ahead, knowing that nothing bad would come; there was no more danger waiting for them.

It was finally over.

_There are not enough words to describe how sincerely sorry I am for basically disappearing off the face of the earth. I've been so bloody ridiculously busy with school and my new job that I just haven't had the time to write anything other than essay or revision notes. _

_I wouldn't be surprised if there was no one to read this because why should there be? I'm a terrible, terrible human being and if there is, by some miracle, any of you wonderful readers actually reading this, then again, there are no words to describe how much I love you._

_More stories will appear, but I can't really tell you when that will be. Things are still a little hectic but school finishes next Friday so after then, I can write to my heart's content. I have a brand new spanking story in the making, so that might appease some of you – I hope it does!_

_Seriously, you guys are bloody fantastic. _

_Oh! And not that I deserve any, but reviews would make me immensely happy. _


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